Prairie Boy’s Birth Story {A Natural Hospital Birth} Part Two

We loaded in the pickup and headed to town. Hubby made an effort to slow down as we bumped across the cattle guards, which was greatly appreciated… I tried to sit back and let all my muscles go completely limp during each contraction.

9 am

It took us an hour to reach the hospital on the snow packed roads. We passed off Prairie Girl to Grandma when we arrived. The receptionists and nurse who met us in the lobby kept asking if I wanted a wheelchair, but I refused. I had walked to the Labor & Delivery floor during labor with Prairie Girl, and I was determined to walk there on my own two feet again! I had several contractions on the way there. I stopped to breathe through each one.

10 am

I was relieved once we were finally in our room. I was ready to focus and get down to business. All the fears I had had about the hospital staff arguing with me over my birth plan were quickly dispelled. I had requested no IV, no constant monitoring, no time limits on labor, no restrictions on eating, and to be allowed to move around the room at will. The nurses were incredibly supportive of my requests and went out of their way to accommodate me. At one point I was sitting on the floor working through contractions and a nurse brought in some paperwork. She plopped down on the floor next to me and didn’t even blink.

The nurse asked if I had any special requests– I asked that no one suggest any pain medication or an epidural. I was committed to a natural birth, but I knew it would be tempting to agree to pain meds when the contractions became more intense. The nurse readily agreed, and I secretly hoped that I had not bitten off more than I could chew…

The midwife came in and asked if I wanted to be checked. I had declined any internal exams up until this point in my pregnancy, but was very curious to see how I was progressing. I was at 4 cm— not as far as I had hoped, but at least we were making progress.

11 am

For the next several hours, hubby and I were pretty much left alone. I tried various laboring positions, but no particular one was 100% comfortable. The contractions kept increasing in intensity and getting closer together. It became harder and harder to relax during each one– they were incredibly intense! I wanted to eat the snacks I had brought, but the contractions were coming so fast that I didn’t even have time to grab the lunchbox before I needed to focus through the next one. It no longer felt good to have hubby rub my back, but I did squeeze his hand hard… (And I think I may have accidentally choked him a bit while grabbing his sweatshirt…)

At home

As the labor became more intense, things felt really surreal. I would retreat into my own little world between contractions and almost fall asleep. I don’t remember a lot of the details of this part of the process- everything was in a haze. I had originally planned to labor in different positions, but all I could manage at this point was to lay on my side propped up in the bed. The contractions were relentless and came one after another.

2 pm

Sometime around this point, I started feeling some light pressure and a slight urge to push. I had never felt that with Prairie Girl since I had opted for an epidural at 7 cm. At one point, I even had the strange sensation of the baby “clunking” down into position. I knew we were getting closer, but it still felt like an eternity until I would ever be able to see this baby in person…

My midwife came in and I asked to be checked again. 9 cm… She asked if I wanted her to break my water and I said yes.

2:30 pm

It was time to push. I started out gradually. Everyone let me do what felt right to my body. No commands of “Push! Push!” like there had been with Prairie Girl’s birth. As each contraction would peak, my body would take over. It felt like a freight train– there was no stopping it! I have heard a lot of people say that they found pushing to be a relief, but I didn’t think so. It hurt– a lot! I hollered– a lot.

We weren’t making a lot of progress… I tried turning around backwards and holding on to the back of the bed, as well as pushing on all fours. Prairie Boy was still doing great, but just wasn’t moving out. In hindsight, I don’t think my pushes were very effective at that point. Did I mention it hurt like crazy?

I finally tried sitting/half-squatting up against the back of the raised bed while pulling my legs back towards me. I originally said that I didn’t want to push in this position, but once I did, we started to make progress… To be quite honest, I didn’t care what position I was in at this point– I just wanted to be done with this whole thing!

He started to crown and it literally felt like he was on fire. It took 3-4 pushes to get him all the way out. This was definitely the most painful part of the entire process, but it only lasted a few minutes (even though it felt like an eternity). At one point I remember saying “Get him out!”, which was rather ironic since I was the only one who could really accomplish that…

At 3:56 pm on October 26th, 2012, Prairie Boy was laid on my chest.I had just gone through the most intense, most painful experience of my entire life– and survived. And I had my baby to show for it.

Since we had declined the eye ointment, Hepatitis B vaccine, and Vitamin K injection, they had no need to whisk him away. Once the cord had stopped pulsating, hubby cut it. I delivered the placenta and Prairie Boy laid on my chest, skin-to-skin, for well over an hour. After a little while, he decided to nurse and he latched on beautifully.

I was losing at bit more blood than my midwife was comfortable with, so the nurse very apologetically asked me if she could start an IV with pitocin to help the uterus contract and stop the bleeding. (I had no IV up to this point.) I had originally stated that I did not want pitocin after labor at all, but I agreed with the nurse since I think the situation warranted it. I really appreciated how respectful they were of my birth plan- I had one bag of fluids, got up to take a shower, and walked to my new room.

I had a tiny tear that required no stitches. This totally surprised me, since I had ended up with a 2nd degree tear and lots of stitches and swelling with Prairie Girl– and this was a bigger baby! When we finally weighed him, he tipped the scales at 9 lbs, 8 oz.

Already outside helping with chores… Gotta start them young!

So… would I do it again?

Yep… sure would!

Now, if you had asked me that right after I had him, my answer might not have been such a resounding yes… But as of today (exactly 2 weeks later), I would absolutely do a natural birth again.

As far as the hospital experience, I think home births are awesome and I came very close to choosing to do a home birth with Prairie Boy. However, because of the the lack of midwives in our area and our extreme distance from the hospital (if something went wrong, it would take at least 45 minutes to reach medical help), hubby and I were never 100% comfortable with that idea.

That being said, I was incredibly pleased with my hospital birth, and was so thankful to have nurses and staff who were so supportive of my wishes for a drug-free experience. It felt more like I was at a birth center instead of a typical hospital.

Natural birth was painful, and gritty, and incredibly empowering– all at the same time. It’s an amazing thing to allow your body to do the work that God designed it to do.

I’ve read some birth stories that almost seem to downplay the intensity of the whole process, and I won’t do that… At least for me– it hurt! I admire the women who can maintain their composure through the whole process, but I didn’t… I moaned, and sweated, and prayed, and hollered…

But the feeling that you get when they place that baby on your chest and you know you just accomplished something so much bigger than yourself… THAT, my friends, made it all worthwhile.

I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. ~Psalm 139:14

Can’t Get Enough Homesteading Goodness?

Join over 75,000 others who get the weekly Homestead Toolbox delivered fresh to their inbox. It’s packed full of recipes, ideas, and homesteading tips you can actually use (no fluff), plus a copy of my very popular mulch gardening how-to guide.

What a beautiful birth story. I too remember yelling at my midwife to get the baby out. 🙂 I’m a few weeks away from having our eighth. I agree with you that the euphoria when they hand you your baby is one of the greatest feelings in the world. Great job on giving birth to a beautiful baby boy.

So, so proud of you! Thank you for taking us through the whole process with you all. We’ve also had (7) natural births and I can’t think of a better bond between husband and wife than to “go through” the birth together in all of its primal, precious, and life-giving ways.

Beautiful baby. Your story is very similar to mine except that my births have been very fast. ( the last two just 30 minutes and 2 hours respectively from when contractions really picked up to the end.) I don’t know if I could have done it if they hadn’t been. Way to go! And yeah, I hollered a lot too 🙂

Beautiful! I too never found pushing to be a relief. It was hard work and yes it hurt terribly! But then it is over and you have that beautiful baby! Your hospital experience was better than either of mine despite my birth plans and good intentions. So glad you got what you wanted there. Enjoy your baby moon.

You are blessed that in spite of living in a rural area you are so close to a hospital that delivers babies. We live on the Colorado prairie, in an area that seems pretty similar to your area. We are 86 miles from the nearest hospital that delivers babies. There are no local midwives also.
Although I am happy with my home births, I also feel it is my only option. I give you great kudos for riding in a vehicle for that long in labor.
My last baby (two months ago) was born at home before the midwife arrived. Yes, it was scary, but she came so quickly that if we had opted for the hospital, she would have been born in the car on a dirt road.
Congratulations on your beautiful baby boy!

I am SO SO happy for you that your medical professionals were so willing to honor your requests. My clinic leans so far to the “doctor knows best” point of view that it’s just depressing. I’m in the high risk category due to my age so I’m not comfortable doing a home birth. I just hope I have the tenacity to insist that my wishes be honored. All three of my sisters had horrible experiences – forceps, vacuums, and improperly administered pain meds during a C-section. I’m determined not to have their experiences!

It was breathtaking to read your bloggings. Also quite remarkable that you were able to remember so clearly. So glad women have better care than they did 40 to 50 years ago; You were drugged, strapped, cut and shot up to stop your milk. I had to fight for what I wanted that was different than the “way we do it now”. Fortunately for me, my grandmother was a midwife (she delivered me) and gave me some very good advice. I am so happy for you and all the other women who declare their rights to stare death in the face and say that you are stronger! Blessings on you and your family.

Thank you for sharing your story of Prarie Boy’s birth, it was wonderful, exciting, touching and humbling and made me remember my own birth experience, 4 years ago. I’m so glad you and family are doing fine and that is one beautiful baby boy! You are blessed with two beautiful kids and I’m very happy for you! I know what you mean about wanting to do it all over again, not long after my son was born I wanted to have another one. I am too old I think, I’m 44 and did not think I could have children at all so my boy is my little miracle. Blessings on you and your family!

I had complications in both my pregnancies which meant I had to deliver in a hospital, I had always wanted to do home births, but both my children were born naturally, but I was not as fortunate as you were to be able to move around or have the hospital agree to my plans (this was back in the 80s). One thing that surprised me was your pain during the delivery process. Once I was ready to push I had no further pain. I even warned my daughters-in-law of this and she too said the delivery was painless. Guess we were lucky.

I’m interested to know which hospital you went to. I’m pregnant, live in Wyoming as well, and want to have a natural childbirth. It sounds like they were very accommodating. We’re in Albany County as of now, but will be moving during the last trimester to either Sheridan or Casper area, depending on hubby’s job. As this is our first child, we know we want to have him/her in a hospital, but I’m a little worried they may not take kindly to all my requests.

We were at the Cheyenne hospital. I really think a huge part of it depends on your midwife/doctor. I think the staff at this hospital is used to my midwife and her natural clients and their “weird” requests. 🙂 I think if you have more of a conventional doctor who is pushing you to do interventions, that might make the whole process more difficult. Best wishes on your upcoming delivery!!

I am in Casper and Wyoming Medical Center (Casper) renovated their entire place over the last 5 years (currently in construction, again, to expand). We had a fine experience both times and the nurses will leave you alone if you tell them to, and the docs are very good. The hospital itself is a maze but the ER door is on 2nd street (a main street). I drove myself the first time, handed my keys over to the security guard and the guards took me up the elevator to L&D. 1. 50% of Wy children born at 1mile or higher experience respiratory distress. Both of my children did, and they attribute it to me being born at sea level in California – more children born from women born at high altitudes do better (keep it in mind), 2. Sheridan is a great hospital too, same deal, still under construction but their ER entrance is not right on the front road – do a practice run. If your child has respiratory distress, etc, there is a ped’s cardiology doc that does his clinic there in Sheridan.

There are NO NICU units in Wyoming (nor PICU) and your option if there is serious threat to the baby OR you is Billings or Denver. We had to do Denver due to early delivery via Learjet – so if you have a chance to do Cheyenne (amazing hospital) the flight is much much cheaper than the 250,000 ambulance, Learjet (with surgical team) and helicopter to St. Lukes. If you find out that you might have issues with the baby please be as close to CHY as possible. BTW, yes, there is a ER flight opt in program that you can buy but it does not include NICU or PICU rides for age 8 or under. You can contact me via Jill if you have more questions and I’ll give her & you my number if you need more information. 🙂

Thank you for all the information WyomingStoryGirl. We’re leaning towards moving back home to Sheridan since that’s where our family lives. It’s comforting to hear stories of hospitals around Wyoming being open to mothers with a natural birth plan. I don’t know why I thought they wouldn’t be, there are such great people in our state. We’re still months away from our due date, but if I do have a question, I’ll definitely keep you in mind:)

I had to wince in empathy with you about the “ring of fire” moment! Gosh that part does hurt A LOT. I have had three kids and all without epidurals or pain medication. Not because I was so committed to natural laboring, but because I was so wimpy about someone sticking a needle in my spine…lol!

I enjoyed reading your birth story. O am so glad you were able to have such a great birth experience! I am recovering from birth–our little boy will be 1 week tomorrow. We were also blessed with a natural birth and while yes, it hurt, he is so worth it! Enjoy your new little guy!

Yay!! I love reading birth stories. I’m so happy for you. We’re pregnant with our second and I am so glad to read a good hospital bith story. Our first was born in a Birth Center and it was an awesome experience, but I’ve been terrified of giving birth in a hospital. I am glad to read that someone had hospital staff that was supportive of a natural birth!

I’m with you on the pushing, too. I can honestly say that the birth didn’t hurt except for the pushing! I didn’t have the ring of fire, but it still was super uncomfortable. I yelled at our daughter to “Get OUT!” Funny, considering I pushed for less than half an hour. It sure seems like an eternity, though, huh?

Congratulations on your natural birth, Jill! I’m so glad that you were able to have the birth that you wanted, and your little baby boy is gorgeous! I had all three of my natural births in the hospital and was led to write my eBook Unbound Birth because I wanted more women to know that it’s possible to do it- just like you and I did! What a great birth story. Thanks for sharing it. 🙂

Jenny- I’ve been meaning to tell you– I read Unbound Birth a few days after I got home from the hospital (got it in the eBook bundle set), and I LOVED it! I already have recommended it to one friend and will continue to do so in the future. It’s an excellent resource!! Just wish I had had it before. 🙂

Oh, You’re kidding! That’s so funny. I’m so glad that you loved it! And thank you for recommending it. I’d love to have you as an affiliate… here’s the link if you’re interested: http://unboundbirth.com/affiliates/
And if you’re ever wanting to do a review and giveaway I’d love it! Just let me know. 🙂 Blessings!

I’ve had 7 babies. 2 in the hospital, 2 at home with doctor and nurses present and 3 unassisted births. My last 2 births were at 44 and 46. If I had gone the medical system route, they would have said I was high risk. They both were very good births. The one at 46 was more painful because my son was almost 12 pounds with a 15 inch head, but we did it. Now he is almost 11 and a big guy for his age. http://www.birthjunkie.com/serenas_story.html
Congratulations on the birth of your son and thank you for sharing your beautiful story!

Beautiful birth story and a gorgeous baby. You were very fortunate to have hospital personnel who respected your wishes. I was Blessed to have 3 naturals births without a lot of pain. The first 2 were in the hospital but they were both tiny babies – my first weighing 5lbs 2 ozs and 18 months later my 2nd weighed only 4lbs 2 ozs. Twelve years later I opted for a home birth and that guy weighed 8lbs 8 1/2 ozs! Huge difference but I had a great midwife and my discomfort didn’t last long. Congratulations on the birth of you baby boy. Both he and Prairie Girl are BEAUTIFUL!

As a labor and delivery nurse I can tell you that most of us prefer to work with patients who opt for natural childbirth. It’s not for everyone, and I’d support whatever the patient perceived as the best plan for their delivery. What I like (LOVE) even more than natural childbirth is second babies. The size difference is not as significant as the fact that your body has “done this” before. They usually (I know- there are SOME exceptions!) are easier to push out, cause less tearing and even seem to have an advantage with breastfeeding. Common sense says that the mom is more experienced and comfortable, but I still think the previous baby has managed to transfer knowledge- they are just too good! 😉

Congratulations! I had my baby boy 3 days after you on Oct. 29th and he was 3 weeks LATE! What torment waiting. He was a VBAC hospital birth and it went awesome thanks to my amazing doula. I yelled through every contraction and screamed bloody murder when I pushed him out, but I agree, best feeling ever to birth naturally! Yeah for MAMAs!

I loved reading your story! Congratulations on the birth of your son! I know you’re hugely busy with the baby right now, but I have a homesteading question for you, that I haven’t seen you address at least in the months I’ve been following you: How do you maintain and/or cultivate friendships when you’re in the country? We’re thinking of moving to a *small* town (less than 500 people), but I’ve just started to feel like I might have the start of a few friendships where I live now (we’ve been here 3+ years), so that aspect of the potential move is a bit daunting. It doesn’t seem like you get to town all that often. Do you have friends there?

GREAT question! It definitely takes more work to maintain/grow friendships out here. Our closest community has a population of 300, although a much larger city is about 45 minutes away. I don’t get to see other moms/friends as much as someone who lives in town. However, we’ve made it a point to be as involved in our little community as much as we can. We used to attend a different church 30 minutes away, but last year we switched to one of the churches in our little town to help us get to know our neighbors.

We also try to be involved in community events. Since our town is so small, they don’t have much, but when they do– we are usually there! My hubby is a part of the volunteer fire dept as well, which has helped him get to know a lot of folks. We consider anyone within a 15 mile radius to be a “neighbor”, and we make a effort to help them out as much as we can. (And they do the same for us.)

Some small towns can be a little “cliqueish”, but I think it really helps when the “new person” reaches out first and shows they want to be a part of the community. At least that is what works for us! Not all of our friends are our age, or in our stage of life, but they have been wonderful nonetheless. 🙂

Hi Jill! That was such an awesome story, gratz on such a beautiful baby! I dont have any children yet, but I’m trying to plan ahead and was wondering if you had any tips, because I’m so worried but i want kids so bad… i used to be content with babysitting all my friend’s kids but now i just feel like time is running out lol.

Congratulations on the birth of your beautiful baby boy!!!!! I too chose natural hospital birth (4 times) as it was the best option in our rural area as well. I am so glad that your experience was wonderful! Thanks for sharing it and empowering other women to take back the control over their birth experience!!! Many blessings to you and your beautiful family 🙂 Wendy

Oh my gosh, Jill, I’m totally crying tears of joy for you right now!! Seriously! What a beautiful, beautiful birth story. I am SO happy for you that you were able to have your birth plan respected without any conflict with the hospital staff. What a BLESSING!!!! I think you made a very wise decision having your baby in the hospital with a midwife, considering the distance you would have had to drive. You have to do what is best for your family, and it sounds like your experience was truly amazing. (Gosh, dry it up, Kendra! The kids are gonna wonder why you’re crying!) I’m so happy for you and your family. Praise God for a healthy baby and a strong mama! Your family is so blessed. Thanks for sharing such an intimate and candid look into your life 🙂

Thank you for sharing your wonderful birth story! I too have had wonderful natural hospital births with my sons. And it is so comforting to know through your story and the comments here that many women “holler”! I yelled a lot too……because it was painful! And I would do it again the same way!

Thank you for sharing such a beautiful birth story. I am pregnant with my first and my hubby is not comfortable with a home birth so we are delivering at the hospital. It’s hard reading about natural births because the majority of them are home births and all talk about how home birth is the way to go. It almost makes me feel guilty for choosing a natural hospital birth. Anyways thank you for sharing. It is so encouraging.

Congrats on your upcoming addition Emily! Please don’t feel guilty at all for choosing a natural hospital birth– there is absolutely nothing wrong with that choice! Home births aren’t for everyone, and it’s totally possible to have a positive, natural experience in a hospital setting if you just take a little time beforehand to figure out what you want. Best of luck! 🙂

I was so excited when I read the “October 25th” date….my oldest was born on Oct 25th ’06…though your labor story sounds much better! C-section…I had to knocked out completely b/c the anesthisia to bums didn’t take……massive bleeding…way different! So glad you had a positive experience

I love your story. I also love how every woman has a different experience, to me it felt good and was SUCH a relief to push! but everything else DOES hurt! but it doesnt matter, and when you see your little guy its all that matters and you almost forget the pain for…30minutes or so haha util its time to get up! 🙂 I was 27 hours into it, had to get out of the water that i had planed to birth my son in (sadly) and ended up 5 minutes from a C-section that luckly NEVER happened because they couldnt get me in there fast enouh! i was so luck that i got to stick with my all natural birth plan and only had an IV for the pushing part, when they were trying to prep me!!

Thank you for sharing your story! It really means a lot to hear about a good hospital birth experience. My first was a home birth and it was amazing. Now I’m 7mo pregnant and we’re planning a hospital birth – like you, we don’t really have midwives in our area and live about 45min from the hospital. I’m terrified about having to give birth in the hospital, but reading your story makes me feel much better!

Yes, I am very thankful for my hospital birth experience. I think the #1 factor in my “success” was having a midwife who would pretty much let me do what I wanted without pressuring me. I know other doctors would have probably made it difficult. But yes, it IS possible to have good hospital experiences!

I had my son (first baby and only so far) naturally in the hospital. I have nothing to compare my experience to, but I trust and believe in the way God made and designed our bodies. Perfectly capable to do what He designed them to do, and fully able to carry out the task He created them to carry out. 🙂 Glad to hear you wouldn’t go back. I won’t do it any differently either…. But yes, I agree, it HURTS! 🙂

If you could have gone back, would you have delivered your first baby naturally? Or did you? (not that I’m gonna be having babies any time soon!!! It’s just good to think ahead, i think) ‘Cause I know it’s always much harder the first time. Once you actually starting pushing, how long did it take? When my sister-in-law had her baby, it took like ten whole minutes after she started pushing! Then they had to use the vacuum!!! But, she was drugged, so I don’t know how it was to her……

I had an epidural with my first– it was a very long laber (30+ hours) and then I pushed for 2 hours. I would have liked to have had her 100% natural too, but honestly– I don’t think I was mentally prepared enough the first time around. So, perhaps if I had done better research/reading with her, it would have been ok. But knowing what I know now, I think it wouldn’t have been good since I didn’t educate myself at all beforehand with her. Hope that makes sense.

Congrats on your beautiful boy! My daughter is now 27 and son soon to be 25. I had my daughter in hospital with midwife all natural delivery. Though I had and IV ready cause I tend to bleed and did hemmorage. My son was induced which I also delivered with out any pain medications. I think each momma should do what she’s comfortable with, no pressures. I personally didn’t find delivery to be all that painful. I was only 110lbs prior to pregnancy and my babies were 7lb 15oz and 7lb 13 oz. I think I am just part broodmare. Would love to have had more babies, but wasn’t in the big plan for me. Congrats again!

Oh, I’m soo glad to have found and read this! I’ve had 3 natural births in hospitals myself, but haven’t gotten to the point where I can fully stand up to the staff and say no to the IV and Pitocin, etc. I thought I couldn’t do that living where I live in rural Kansas, but if you can do it in Wyoming, then I feel empowered to do so here. My doctor who delivered the last two seems to be pretty relaxed and understands me well. With the last birth, he signed me out 15 hours after birth! I’m so glad to hear that I can be more bold. I feel much more relieved and excited for the next one now.

Hi there, I just found your blog. I had four homebirths, all in Montana. I don’t know exactly where you are in Wyoming, but my amazing midwife, Pat Schwaiger, works in the Montana/Wyoming area. She attends lots of births on ranches in the middle of nowhere…in fact, it’s sort of her specialty and love. If you are ever interested or in need of a midwife another time around, I would absolutely recommend her. Her website is http://www.mountainmidwives.com. (No, I’m not anyone paid to endorse her or anything, just had four wonderful homebirth experiences, and I’m really happy to share that with anyone I can.) Love all of the information you have here! We now live on 7.5 acres in Minnesota, and I’m having so much fun “playing farm” as I like to call it. Kathy

Love your blog! Just started reading it this last week and I’m enjoying all your little tips and DIY recipes!
As far as babies go I want to applaud you for choosing a natural, un-medicated birth. I had my first baby last spring and was absolutely adamant that I would have no interventions. Best decision I ever made. We took a Hypnobirthing class (would recommend it to any/everyone!) which was amazing! We learned so much and it made me feel so confident in my decision to do everything the natural way that Heavenly Father intended me to. It wasn’t easy (back labor radiating through the hips and down the thighs sucks!), but it was wonderful to feel so invigorated (and functional) immediately after. It’s wonderful knowing that I let my body take charge and do what it was designed to do. Rounds out the whole natural lifestyle, doesn’t it? 🙂